Actor Jackie Chan didn’t really like the movie that made him famous internationally. Chan once revealed that he wasn’t a huge fan of the first Rush Hour movie. He explained in an old interview that he was unsure if the American audience will like the movie.
He also said that the movie was not fit for the Asian audience and to prevent this he tried his best to release two movies in a year, one for an Asian audience and one for an American audience. He thought that Asians would not understand the jokes in the movie. So far, three Rush Hour films have been made and they have been major box office hits.
Jackie Chan didn’t like the first Rush Hour movie
The first movie in the Rush Hour franchise, Rush Hour, was released in 1998. On a budget of $35 million, the movie made about $240 million worldwide. Even though it was considered a success, Jacke Chan later explained that he wasn’t a huge fan of it. In June 2001, he talked about the movie in an interview,
“When I made Rush Hour, I looked at the film and I didn’t really like it. Another one of my films that is not appealing to the American market. I thought Rush Hour could do well in the American market, but I don’t think so at that time. At the time, I didn’t know about American humor. So when I looked at it [the film] by myself I was not sure. Then I return to Asia to make my own film and boom, Rush Hour is a big success. I just don’t understand why.”
Jackie Chan’s first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl, which was released in 1980. However, his most famous role was Chief Inspector Lee in Rush Hour.
The actor said that the film wasn’t for the Asian audience
Further in the interview, Jackie Chan explained that the movie was a hit only in the US because Asian countries didn’t understand the humor,
“At the premiere everybody is happy and it is a success. But I still think I am right. The movie is good for the American market and Europe market, but not in Asia. [In Asia] it is not as successful as it is in America. In Asia, because of the humor, we don’t know it or understand.”
In Asian countries, especially Hong Kong, Jackie Chan is extremely popular and has become a prominent figure over the years.
Jackie Chan said he made two films once a year for different audiences
To entertain all his fans, Jackie Chan decided to work on two movies a year, one for US citizens and one for Asian citizens. He said,
“At that time, I know that I have to make two movies a year; one for Asian market and one for American market. From that point on, I make one movie in Hong Kong and one in America and I go back and forth.”
The Rush Hour series was a major box office success. The first film grossed over $244 million worldwide and became Chan’s highest-grossing film in the United States at that time. The sequels, Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Rush Hour 3 (2007), also performed well at the box office, grossing over $347 million and $258 million worldwide, respectively.
Related: Jackie Chan Called MCU “Fools” for Choosing Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man: “No one hires me”
Source: BlackFilm
